Socio-Economic Correlates of Information Security Threats and Controls in Global Financial Services Industry: An Analysis

Threats to data and information assets of Global Financial Services Industry (GFSI) are ever-present; such problems, if not well understood, could lead to huge negative impact. To some extent, the environment where a business operates does matter for its success. This study presents information about the relationships between selected socio-economic factors and information security threats and controls in the financial services industry. Essentially, it seeks to enrich the information provided in the 2012 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) survey that dealt with about security threats in the industry. This study’s findings indicated that contextual factors, such as national wealth, transparency levels, staff training, tertiary education enrolment, and buyer sophistication, do have positive associations with some information security threats and controls. Practitioners and academicians can benefit from this study’s insights. Socio-Economic Correlates of Information Security Threats and Controls in Global Financial Services Industry: An Analysis